While working on my
summary I realized that I had picked the wrong topic to write about. My field is
Mechanical engineering so I chose to write about Henry Ford. I looked up a
couple of sources that seemed like they would be interesting. They in fact were
the exact opposite of interesting. I decided to use the source that was a
little less boring. It didn’t talk about the engineering mindset that Henry
Ford had, or even engineering in general, but instead it consisted of an
article about the Henry Ford museum and the message it portrays. I was
miserable during the writing process of the summary, but I got through it. I
have done writing assignments similar to this summary in the past and each time
the topic I had chosen was something I found to be extraordinarily interesting.
I think if I would have been a little more cautious and thorough in my thought
process about my topic I may not have struggled with the complete boredom this
summary brought me. Obviously, the boredom was the hardest part; however, I
feel that it was actually really easy to write. I think it all goes back to the
inner critic that we talked about. It is so easy for me to throw my ideas and
thoughts on paper now that I am not constantly tripping over the inner critic.
I wish I would have had a bit more assistance in choosing my topic, but I also
realize this is our responsibility as college students and we need to take full
ownership of our work all the way through. It would have helped to have
assistance because then I think my mindset would have been a bit more
orientated on a topic that is relevant to how writing works in my field. I did
not learn a whole lot about writing in my field from this assignment, but I can
say that I now know how to better research that exact question. I also have
learned that it helps to know what the end result of an assignment is, and then
I can be better prepared for it. This summary may not be specifically useful
for my end research paper, but it did allow me to learn how I should be better
prepared for the future assignments we might have like this.
Hey Michael, you said, "
ReplyDeleteIt would have helped to have assistance because then I think my mindset would have been a bit more orientated on a topic that is relevant to how writing works in my field. I did not learn a whole lot about writing in my field from this assignment, but I can say that I now know how to better research that exact question. I also have learned that it helps to know what the end result of an assignment is, and then I can be better prepared for it. This summary may not be specifically useful for my end research paper, but it did allow me to learn how I should be better prepared for the future assignments we might have like this."
First, just let me extend an open invitiation to always, always, always ask for more assistance if you want it. Email me, come by my office, make an appointment, whatever you need. No question is dumb, to me. I AM asking a lot of you guys and not giving you as much instruction as some instructors might. Most of the time, though, it's hard to tell where that is working and where you need more, until afterwards. I can only tell if an assignment fails. But hopefully, people ask before that. Just know I expect to get more questions from you as a class because of how I am asking you to do so much on your own. It is perfectly fine to ask!
But truly, what you said in the above quote is exactly what I hoped you would learn in this process. I may not have been able to help you much more than you helped yourself: I would have had to sit down and do the process you did. But you did it fine!
One thing you will notice about me as a teacher: I am constantly trying to put you all into "problems" that you have to think/write your way out of. It is the way writing and thinking work in the real world, and I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't model real life in my teaching.